Zennie62 on YouTube

Man, I didn't know Selma Blair was even married until now! Where have I been? I've got to admit she's got the simple combination West Cost / Midwest girl-next-door look down to a fine science. I guess her now-ex-hubby Ahmet Zappa (think son of the late and lengendary rocker Frank Zappa) thought so too, because he married her in 2004.

I only became aware of Selma via the movie "Cruel Intentions" -- one of my favorites. In the movie, which also features now coupled Ryan Philippe and Reese Witherspoon, Blair became very well-known for this kiss:

Well she's not going to be kissing on Zappa anytime soon because they had a nasty argument in a parking lot, which ended with her screeching off in her car after he walked off.

She's on the market and free to give a kiss like the one above to some deserving guy -- this time!

The Enquirer reports that the much celebrated baby of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is not the product of whatever sexual intercourse the couple had. This news was covered in several other online media publications like Gawker and Perezhilton.com and led to speculation regarding who the father may be.

Some pointed to old Holmes flame Chris Klein as the father because of the similarity in the shape of their eyes. But regardless of who the real father may be, it's certainly clear that Suri is the child of Tom and Katie now.

The buzz is all around that Paramount dumped Tom Cruise, but if you read the fine print to the story, it was the other way around.

It seems that Paramount reacted childishly to Cruise and Paula Wagner's decision to seek other movie financing. I don't know what they expect to accomplish, other than making a good deal for Cruise and some other organization just by proving his ability to draw headlines.

If you thought the timeless rock song Black Velvet was a product of The Wilson Sisters -- as I did -- you're flar wrong. The amazing voice behind this classic is of none other than Alannah Myles. Take a look and give a listen here:

Here are the lyrics (according to Songfacts, it's about Elvis Presley, but I thought it was refering to black men in the South, or an African American man she knew -- wishful thinking):

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spellJimmy Rogers on the Victrola up highMama's dancin' with baby on her shoulderThe sun is settin' like molasses in the skyThe boy could sing, knew how to move, everythingAlways wanting more, he'd leave you longing for

Chorus:Black velvet and that little boy's smileBlack velvet with that slow southern styleA new religion that'll bring ya to your kneesBlack velvet if you please

Up in Memphis the music's like a heatwaveWhite lightening, bound to drive you wildMama's baby's in the heart of every school girl"Love me tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisleThe way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and trueAlways wanting more, he'd leave you longing for

Black velvet and that little boy's smileBlack velvet with that slow southern styleA new religion that'll bring ya to your kneesBlack velvet if you please

Every word of every song that he sang was for youIn a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?

(Solo)

Black velvet and that little boy's smileBlack velvet with that slow southern styleA new religion that'll bring ya to your kneesBlack velvet if you please

Black velvet and that little boy's smileBlack velvet with that slow southern styleA new religion that'll bring ya to your kneesBlack velvet if you please

This report by Niki Finne makes you understand how short and precious our lives are. Click on the link to read it. Here's an except below:

From AP: Bruno Kirby, the veteran character actor who co-starred in When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers has died at age 57 in Los Angeles from complications related to leukemia, according to a statement today from his wife, Lynn Sellers. He had recently been diagnosed with the disease. "We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from Bruno's fans and colleagues who have admired and respected his work over the past 30 years," his wife said. "Bruno's spirit will continue to live on not only in his rich body of film and television work but also through the lives of individuals he has touched throughout his life."

Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a ``very stable'' relationship with a reality show star.

Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.

``I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything,'' he tells the magazine.

'N Sync is known for a string of hits including ``Bye Bye Bye'' and ``It's Gonna Be Me.'' The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.

Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt ``the end of 'N Sync.'' He explains, ``So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did.''

The singer says he's in a ``very stable'' relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS' ``Amazing Race.''

Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy ``The Odd Couple,'' in which his character will be gay.

``The thing is, I'm not ashamed -- that's the one thing I want to say,'' Bass says. ``I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy.''

Now before you get into a tizzy, I'm not implying that O.J, Simpson killed his wife. I don't believe he did. But he did do something that Superman does in Superman Returns, and so they have at least one action in common.

To determine what that is, read on.

I came into the theater wanting to like Superman Returns before I saw it. In other words, I came with a bias. I'm one of those who remembers watching the black-and-white "Superman" TV show as a kid. I was never really into the Superman comics, preferring Wonder Woman (!), but I did watch "The Super Friends" and "The Justice League of America" cartoons.

Then there was Richard Donnar's "Superman" -- a masterpiece of a film that launched the career of soap opera actor Christospher Reeve, who we think of as anything but now.

What made Superman an incredible film was that it was faithful to the character I and others of my generation remember as kids: the defender of truth, justice, and the American way.

And that doesn't go for invading Iraq.

In other words, Superman was part of my childhood. I never watched one episiode of the popular TV series "Lois and Clark" or "Smallville" for that matter. (Well, I did see one "Smallville" story, which was pretty good.) They don't present the Superman I remember.

In other words, I don't associate Superman with sex, child support, birth control, jealously, stalking, homelessness, or alcoholism. Yet Brian Singer's deals with all of these issues either directly or indirectly in Superman Returns.

A Work Not Marvelous, But I Do Wonder...

Superman Returns is the result of a 13-year collective quest to make a new Superman movie, an effort that seemed as if it was going to be stuck in development hell until it was saved by Director Brian Singer and Producer Chris Lee. Two years and $250 million later, Superman Returns was released on June 30, 2006.

Superman plays Brandon Routh, who like Reeve before him was a soap opera actor, and who basically looks like a cross between Reeve and Dean Cain from "Lois and Clark" -- he's more Reeve than Cain, to be sure. 23-year old Kate Bostworth takes on Lois Lane, a character set in Zeitgeist stone by Margo Kidder and Terry Hatcher.

The cast is rounded by the appearance of Frank Langella as Perry White, the editor of The Daily Planet. (As a momentary aside, Langella's getting a lot of work of late, and he's sinks his teeth into every role.)

The question is how does each actor do compared to the ones who've come before them. My answer: not bad at all. It's not the actors that are the problem, it's the material they're given.

It's terrible.

The story goes like this: Superman crash land on Earth -- and right onto his adopted mother's farm -- after a five year absence. Apparently astronomers discovered the remains of Krypton so Superman went back to investigate the find for himself. After all it's his home planet.

The trouble is he left without telling anyone where he was going -- except his Mom. So after enjoying some sleep in a comfortable bed at home and a game of "fetch" so unfair to the dog the canine gives up, Clark Kent returns to Manhattan -- opps, Metropolis -- and to his old job at the newspaper The Daily Planet, courtesy of Editor-In-Chief Perry White.

Jimmy Olsen's there (played by Sam Huntington) as is Lois Lane, at least her chair's there; she's part of a press group on the maiden voyage of a Boeing 777 carrying a new Space Shuttle into the sky.

He's reacquainted with her after a spectacular scene segment -- hampered by one major flaw -- where Clark Kent / Superman saves the 777 from crashing into a baseball stadium after a midair malfunction directly related to the doings of Lex Luthor.

Clark Kent / Superman is obviously anxious to see Ms. Lane, but discovers that she's moved on. She's got a husband-to-be -- Richard, played by James Mardsen -- and a five year old kid with an asthma problem and a weird ability to throw pianos when excited. Right, five years old. When Clark Kent / Superman sees the photo of Lois new family and Olsen fills him in on the new beau, Kent cracks the picture frame in an anger he struggles to hide. This guys jealous, big time. But he's Superman, which means that he could do some damage if he gets pissed. Better a planet than a family, right?

When Clark Kent / Superman leans of the home address of Ms. Lane, he flies off as Superman to -- well, go there. He arrives and while floating in air, uses his X-ray vision to observe the activity of the Lane household. We and he see the action one room at a time, and I feel creepy. At this point, I started to put this segment together with the picture frame cracking accident and think of Clark Kent / Superman as...

O.J. Simpson.

Finally Clark Kent / Superman sees Lois and Richard in the kitchen and with his super hearing listens to her say she's not in love with Superman anymore. At this point, he hangs in the air for a moment just long enough to make you believe he may do something rash, like blow the house down. Just think if he caught them making love, which the segment seems to communicate the possibility of happening. What then? Pound his fist in anger hard enough to make them think there's an earthquake and stop?

Why the OJ comparison? Well, one thing he did was go to the home of the guy his wife was seeing and peer into his window while she was "doing it" with him. What did he do?

Well, both he and Clark Kent / Superman did get angry. In Clark Kent / Superman's case, he flew off to Earth orbit, crying.

He Can't Find A Home...

Clark Kent / Superman can't seem to find a place to live. On three occasions he says he's still looking for one. Never finds one. He just hangs in space listening to just about everyone on Earth, picking and choosing where he goes at any moment in time. That's fine, but it seems to take away from the responsible Clark Kent, who knows he needs a home and one would think a place to entertain other than the Fortress of Solitude. Instead we get the homeless Clark Kent.

On top of all that Clark Kent / Superman reacts with an annoying indifference to the kid he sires and this is where the material show it's problem of lack of passion. In real life, Clark Kent / Superman would have asked Lois why she wasn't on birth control or something. To be fair, he does sneak back to Lois home to see his kid, but then that's what bugs me yet again.

Why couldn't he have just asked Lois to see him?

Moreover, why didn't Lois invite him? I actually liked Kate Bostworth as Lois. She played the role of Lois as Mom real well.

I also liked Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor, that is until he and his men beat up Superman / Clark Kent in a scene way too violent for the Superman movies.

$250 Million For This?

Finally, I come to the matter of the special effects that give shape to this movie. The airplane save scenes were really great. But the whole effect just plain fell apart for me when the 777 was in the baseball stadium. The face that it's not really there is obvious by the bleed lines between the aircraft and the real life stadium. It just takes away from the impact of the scene.

It left me wondering where the $250 million went. For that money, they should have been able to realize resolution so detailed the bleedlines were eliminated, but no. Yes, there's two scenes in King Kong that have the same problem, but they're minor and small in time, and way outnumbered by some jaw dropping effects, like Kong himself.

But in Superman Returns these bleedlines are everywhere, even on Superman himself as he flies. It was disappointing.

Do I Or Don't I Want A Sequel?

As I write this, Superman Returns is being clobbered at the box office. It has two problems: Pirates of The Carribean II and it's $250 million price tag. "Pirates" arrghed up $132 million in just a weekend. That would pay for 50 percent of the cost of Superman Returns, which has made $142 million in two weeks, and it's revenue gain is declining; it only took in $21 million last weekend, and with more flicks coming out, the number of screens it's on will shrink, making the breakeven target of $250 million harder and harder to reach. Ouch.

I believe Superman deserves a better movie life than this. Given what Singer brought to the screen this time, I'm not excited to see the sequel. But given the box office, getting one made may be hard to do.

The lesson here is clear. Don't mess with a kid's view of a comic book legend by making him less of a hero. Adults know heroes are flawed, but we don't want our childhood ones to be.

The Superman in Superman Returns is not the Man of Steel I remember as a kid; he's not the one I want to see today. Apparently, many agree.

Recently Wonder Woman Movie Director Josh Whedon did an interview where he said he found the script he's writing -- repeat, he's writing -- troubling. This bit of news sent Wonder Woman fans at Ultimate Wonder into a frenzy, with many fearing that the movie would be just terrible -- if it ever was made.

In this video below, Whedon' talks about his approach to the Wonder Woman Movie script.

This seems to be the plotline fot the film, and it's followed by the actual trailer itself. This is the real-deal, as there's a "fake" running around YouTube. The third installment in the highly sucessful movie series -- I think it's one of the best in film history -- adds "Prmary Colors" Adrian Lester to the cast, and making him the first African American to hold a lead role in the series.

Here's the rumored plot:

Plot: Third film in the highly successful "Spider-Man" series sees several new villains and a new woman enter Peter Parker's life. With his secret now revealed to both Mary Jane and Harry, Peter must face the consequences of his actions and his new life together with Mary Jane as they finally form a relationship. Yet their newfound open display of love has yielded some unfortunate results, not the least of which is Peter's upset boss determined to make his life hell for causing his son emotional distress. Not helping is a young investigative reporter named Eddie Brock who Jameson has hired to find out why Mary Jane dumped his son for Peter - what's Parker's secrets?

At the same time an escaped prisoner hiding out on a remote beach is caught in a dreadful accident and finds himself turned into a shape-shifting sand creature. Peter's investigations into the past of this 'Sandman' (Thoman Haden Church from "Sideways" pictured) brings him in contact with two very different things that will inevitably alter his life. The first a young woman named Gwen Stacy, daughter of the city's new police chief who is developing a soft spot for Peter. The other, a black substance from an accident scene which 'merges' with Peter's costume and gives him new found abilities.

Things come to a head however when Harry Osborn, determined to take revenge against Peter for his father's death and now equipped with what he needs to pull it off, teams with The Sandman in a new variation of his father's Green Goblin guise and causes mayhem. In the ensuing chaos lives are lost, including people very close to Peter, whilst the black substance covering his suit separates from him and merges with a distraught Brock to form something else entirely - a creature unlike anything he's ever faced. A 'Venom' that he may not be able to stop.

I don't know the behind the scenes story, but given this racially-coded exchange with Sandra Bernhard which is in the video below -- some call it a cat fight -- it seems race may have played a role and not in the way you think.

It seems that Jones' may not have been the right demographic for the suddenly gay-friendly media. What I think happened is that Walters and her staff made some weird read on society and concluded they better get a lesbian voice on their show -- enter Rosie O'Donnell. But exit Jones?

Well, some people tend to think in a white - male - centered view, where anyone that's not white or male is considerred a minority, thus the stupid decision to trade one minority -- Jones -- for another -- O'Donnell.

Bernhard -- like Rosie -- is also Lesbian, and it's almost certain Lesbian women called for Jones' head after the exchange, and inspite of the fact that it was the acid-tongued Bernhard who opened her mouth too much. (Not to say I disagree with her on the matter of war and women. I mean, the World would be a better place if every woman refused to have sex with a bigot or a warmonger.)

It won't matter. O'Donnell's not a draw. The View will sink into oblivion.

The Academy Award-winning star of the motion picture "Ray" Jamie Foxx gave a hilarious performance to a sold-out crowd at the Paramount Theater. In this video he talks about how rapper LL Cool J treated him on the set of Oliver Stone's movie "Any Given Sunday" -- leading to a series of altercations -- and that Jennifer Lopez (aka J-Lo) was upset with Foxx because he reportedly said she couldn't sing. A claim he didn't deny in this video.

Billy Preston -- known for his massive hit "Nothin From Nothin Leaves Nothin" -- passed away today at the age of 59. I remember him most for that song, and was totally unaware of his legal problems as reported by CNN. I prefer to remember his music. Here's a video of a concert he recently performed with George Harrison, and both formerly of The Beatles.

New Batwoman is a lesbianEditor: 'We decided to give her a different point of view'

Thursday, June 1, 2006; Posted: 8:47 a.m. EDT (12:47 GMT)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Years after she first emerged from the Batcave, Batwoman is coming out of the closet.

DC Comics is resurrecting the classic comic book character as a lesbian, unveiling the new Batwoman in July as part of an ongoing weekly series that began this year. The 5-foot-10 superhero comes with flowing red hair, knee-high red boots with spiked heels, and a form-fitting black outfit.

"We decided to give her a different point of view," explained Dan DiDio, vice president and executive editor at DC. "We wanted to make her a more unique personality than others in the Bat-family. That's one of the reasons we went in this direction."

(DC Comics, like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.)

The original Batwoman was started in 1956, and killed off in 1979. The new character will share the same name as her original alter ego, Kathy Kane. And the new Batwoman arrives with ties to others in the Gotham City world.

"She's a socialite from Gotham high society," DiDio said. "She has some past connection with Bruce Wayne. And she's also had a past love affair with one of our lead characters, Renee Montoya."

Montoya, in the "52" comic book series, is a former police detective. Wayne, of course, is Batman's true identity -- but he has disappeared, along with Superman and Wonder Woman, leaving Gotham a more dangerous place.

The "52" series is a collaboration of four acclaimed writers, with one episode per week for one year. The comics will introduce other diverse characters as the story plays out.

"This is not just about having a gay character," DiDio said. "We're trying for overall diversity in the DC universe. We have strong African-American, Hispanic and Asian characters. We're trying to get a better cross-section of our readership and the world."

The outing of Batwoman created a furor of opinions on Web sites devoted to DC Comics. Opinions ranged from outrage to approval. Others took a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the announcement.

"Wouldn't ugly people as heroes be more groundbreaking?" asked one poster. "You know, 200-pound woman, man with horseshoe hair loss pattern, people with cold sores, etc.?"

DiDio asked that people wait until the new Batwoman's appearance in the series before they pass judgment.

"You know what? Judge us by the story and character we create," he said. "We are confident that we are telling a great story with a strong, complex character."

DiDio spent most of the morning fielding phone calls from media intrigued by the Batwoman reinvention.

"It's kind of weird," he said. "We had a feeling it would attract some attention, but we're a little surprised it did this much."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.